Manager Tops Edgewood's Wish List

September 1, 1991|By Nancy Imperiale Of The Sentinel Staff

EDGEWOOD — A city manager, a police cruiser and a computer are all on Edgewood's shopping list for next year.

But first the city budget must pass. Residents can have their say on the expenditures at two hearings this month - 8:30 p.m. Tuesday and 7:30 p.m. Sept. 17 in City Hall, 405 Larue Ave. The City Council will pass the budget after the second hearing.

The proposed $751,228 budget maintains last year's tax rate of $3.40 per $1,000 of assessed property value, although most homeowners will end up paying more property taxes because of increased values.

The owner of a $100,000 home with a $25,000 homestead exemption would pay $255 next year in property taxes.

The largest expense in the budget is for police protection, which will cost taxpayers $330,032. The next largest bite is for fire protection, for which Edgewood will pay Orange County $215,794.

New items in the budget, or items on which the council agreed to spend more money next year, include $32,862 that leaders hope to pay a new city manager; $5,500 for a new computer and software to replace the city's 6-year-old computer; $16,000 for a new police car; $1,500 for resurfacing roads and replacing stolen road signs; and $10,000 for cleaning clogged storm drains.

Council member Craig Andrews, who prepared the budget, said he hopes residents will accept it.

The Police Department allocation has taken the largest leap in the budget, increasing more than 30 percent over last year. Andrews attributes that to a newly unionized police department that has been negotiating its first contract.

The city plans to begin advertising for a new city manager next month, at the urging of Council President John Pancari.

Pancari said the city needs to be run by a college-educated person with management skills, and he persuaded the council to shift funds to accommodate a salary for such a person, who would be the first manager in Edgewood's eight decades as an incorporated town.